What the hell happened to heist movies? To be more specific, what happened to Indian heist movies? Does everyone remember Aankhen? It's not just one of the best Hindi heist movies of all time; it's one of the best heist movies, period. Everything from the concept to the performances was perfect.
Despite not liking it as much as others, I have to admit that the Dhoom movies were quite influential, especially in terms of sales. Don 2 reigns supreme in this category of films in the Indian subcontinent and abroad, not just because it had Shah Rukh Khan, but also because of the craftsmanship he displayed!
Directors: Robbie Grewal, Kookie GulatiWriters: Sumit Arora, David LoganStars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ivana Brcan,Shaji Chaudhary
The first half of Lootera focused on a heist, while the second half was about its repercussions. And that's the last good heist movie I can remember. After that, we had half-baked entries like Kick, Drive (sorry, Sushant), Crew, and Sikandar Ka Muqaddar. For some reason, I naively hoped that Jewel Thief might revive this subgenre.
Jewel Thief, by Robbie Grewal and Kookie Gulati (it has nothing to do with Dev Anand's film, except that it shares the same name), begins with the revelation that the offshore account details of art enthusiast and feared gangster Rajan Aulakh have been leaked to Interpol. To make up for the lost money, he's forced to sell Gustav Klimt's "Medicine" at auction. Knowing that won't be enough, Aulakh sets his sights on the Red Sun, Africa's most prized jewel, currently housed in India's Fortcrest Museum. Of course, he won't be able to steal it all alone; he wants Rehan Roy to carry out the heist for him. Now, as Rehan is a wanted man, with Detective Vikram Patel's men constantly watching him, and has an estranged relationship with his father, Jayant, he's in no mood to return home. So Aulakh involves the innocent Jayant in a black money scam, thus forcing Rehan to collaborate with the kingpin to carry out the robbery. There's also Farrah, Aulakh's abused wife, whom Rehan intends to rob along with the jewel.
Here's the thing: you're skipping from the last paragraph to this one in a matter of milliseconds, but I've been here for hours trying to figure out what to write about the plot of Jewel Thief! I feel like I've spent more time understanding the purpose of this film than Sumit Aroraa did writing the script. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but seriously, why does this story exist? It's made up of snippets from other heist movies, any of which I would have preferred to watch instead of wasting two hours of my life on this nonsense. The whole thing about pulling off an elaborate fake heist to cover up the real one is "inspired" by Ocean's Twelve. The recently released Lift and Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga both featured mid-air heists; I'm not saying they're good films, I'm just saying that Aroraa's main gimmick is stale and unoriginal. The damsel-in-distress cliché is unbearably dated. And the villain holding a family member hostage to force the hero to do his bidding is a cliché.
I'm not going to pretend that heist franchises like Ocean's, The Fast and the Furious, Mission: Impossible, Now You See Me, or Den of Thieves are full of commentary on politics, religion, culture, society, or other philosophical topics. They have tons of action. The challenges are always so easy to follow that even a toddler could handle them. The acting is fantastic. There's great music. There are exotic locations. And most importantly, they're hilarious. Where's the fun in Jewel Thief? Don't get me wrong, there's a ton going on in the movie. Rehan does backflips. Aulakh is punching people. Farrah is stunning. Vikram shouts the plot out to the audience and his stupid assistants. There are expansive sets, lots of bright colors (though some daytime scenes needed proper color grading) and cool camera movements. But it's all done with a strange sense of apathy. As if Grewal, Kookie, and the rest of the crew were forced to make this film when they would have preferred to relax in some villa in Lonavala. If the cast and crew don't seem to enjoy the filming process, why should I care about what's happening on screen?
By the way, why, precisely, was the Griffith Observatory used as Moosa's base of operations in Istanbul? That's the Griffith Observatory with the iconic Los Angeles skyline in the background! Not some random building in some obscure corner of the world that you can simply claim is in Istanbul and expect no one to bat an eye. Or is it an inside joke where someone on the crew mistook the Griffith Observatory for the Istanbul University Observatory? Anyway, let's talk about the cast.
I'll be honest: Saif Ali Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat (his costume design is very Ram Jaane-esque), Nikita Dutta, and Kunal Kapoor look great. In theory, it's an excellent cast for a heist film, because the capers aren't just about the heist; they're about looking good while pulling off said heist. But the material they're working with is a bit insulting. If Saif, Jaideep, Nikita, and Kunal weren't talented and didn't give it their all, this film wouldn't have been worth watching. It's only because of their screen presence that I didn't hit the skip button. The same can be said for Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Gagan Roy, Dorendra Singh Loitongbam, Shaji Choudhary, Ayaz Khan, Sumit Gulati, Vinay Sharma, and the rest of them supporting cast. They all deserved better directors and writers.
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